The Dala horse (or Dalahäst in Swedish) is a traditional carved and painted wooden horse that has become a symbol of Sweden and of Swedish handcrafts. The man credited with introducing the painting technique still used today also emigrated to the American Midwest around the same time as my ancestor. I designed these socks in honor of my cousin who lives in Sweden.

Method: These stranded colorwork socks are knit in the round from the cuff down with a round heel and gusset decreases placed on the sole. These socks can be knitted on dpns, short circular (you will still need dpns for the heel and toe decreases), or by magic loop.
Please note the colorwork design in this pattern is charted not written out. You need to be prepared to read and work from charts in order to enjoy knitting this design.

Size: Although these socks are written for one size this is adjustable to a certain degree.
Firstly, to increase or decrease the foot circumference you can change the needle size (and therefore the tension) that you knit these socks at. Please note stranded colorwork does not have the same stretch to it that a plain stocking stitch sock does.

Secondly, to increase the leg and/or foot length you can work more plain MC rounds before or after knitting the charts, or between pattern bands. You can also repeat motifs from the charts (e.g. work an extra band of hearts). Similarly, the leg and/or foot length can be decreased by working fewer plain rounds between the bands of motifs or by removing a pattern band completely.
Please bear in mind that any changes to size or tension will affect the amount of yarn required to knit these socks.

Yarn: You can use any 4 ply (fingering) sock yarn with which you can get gauge. Please note I do not recommend using yarns with a high cotton content as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as other fibers and this will affect the fit of your socks.
The amounts of each color required will depend on how many colors you pick and where you choose to use them in the sock. For example, to work four colors (as in the pairs shown)
MC – Approx. 170 metres, 186 yards
CC1 – Approx. 60 metres, 66 yards
CC2 – Approx. 60 metres, 66 yards
CC3 – Approx. 90 metres, 99 yards